#luz first meeting amity as ''the only person who ever stuck up for me'' and then getting her heart hurts

[lollytea]

Toh leaked pilot making me cry over lost lumity potential

[herobrinna]

ok so ive spammed my friend with toh thoughts a bit to much so time to ramble here i suppose. (sorry in advance thisll be very disjointed and go from one random point to another).

my main take away from the finale is that it felt a bit... hollow?

like dont get me wrong, the animation was so fucking good. getting more titan and collector lore was also so cool (and hellooo The Titan being such a genderqueer royal? absolutely love how natural toh rep is, like its just thrown out there and no one questions it, just how shit is, absolutely bangers- *gets shot*). and aaaa, the aged up re-designs of all the characters are so good, especially like the detail how all the hexsquad have a flapjack tattoo.

yet there are so many bits that just feel off? like they couldve been handle better (even with the cut runtime the show had).

first lets start with the Collector who just got done dirty, like their whole arc was about the fear of being alone again, yet at the end they decided to leave? just like that? like would it not make more sense for him to stay with Eda, to learn to control his powers better and make new friends. especially them leaving to "mature" or whatever doesnt really make sense, like how can they grow as a person if they dont interact with others, if they dont get exposed to different opinions and believes and all that.

and i dont really like Collie, but it still feels like he deserved better, especially after taking up so much runtime.

actually you know what wouldve made the show better? not introducing the Collector in the first place.

no but think about it, why waste so much runtime on a character that didnt even exist before the show was cut (and thus had very little foreshadowing and buildup to his introduction) and then to not even give them a sweeter ending?

if anything the show shouldve stuck with the Day of Unity being the true finale. like honestly if DoU happened over the 3 specials they actually had plenty of time to flesh out all the existing characters further, maybe there could have been even a little more time for more slice of life moments. but then the whole bit with Collie just feels likes taking away precious time, that his character could have only worked if the show wasnt cut, but if it wasnt cut he wouldnt have existed in the first place, so man idk.

and on the topic of the DoU, holy shit Belos got done dirty, im actually mildly mad at his demise.

like it just overall doesnt make sense thematically.

like, ok this is gonna be hard to phrase, and i would like to straight away say i dont think Belos should ever be redeemed, just gonna use other characters redemptions as example.

so toh throughout its enite runtime is really set on showing that everyone deserves a second chance for as long as they want and are willing to change. we see this with Lilith who was pretty much immediately redeemed at the beginning of s2, and whilst many people say it was rushed, or she didnt deserve it, i think otherwise. like throughout s1 she only tries to get Eda into the Emperor's coven out of the belief that Belos will cure her, cuz yknow, she feels really fucking guilty for cursing her sister, and even then she doesnt really force Eda that much into joining, like there are many moments of weakness were Lilith couldve dragged Eda to the emperor, but she didnt, she gave Eda many chances to join on her own. and again the only reason she even wanted Eda to be in the coven was to right her mistake of cursing her. so after going through that guilt for years of course shed be forgiven quickly, as she showed that she wants to change, be better and all that.

we see this with Hunter as well, though his redemption was more gradual, yet still his past wrongs arnt brought up, like how he patronised Eda and Luz during his first meeting, or attacked Amity in eclipse lake, cuz he was also doing shit out of the belief of helping people, and clearly wanted to change for the better, so why bring up his past wrongs when hes a better person now and all that.

why bring this up?

well with Belos toh brought up an interesting dilemma, what do you do with a person that doesnt want to change, thats stuck in a loop of his short sighted beliefs in a system thats ready to accept and help anyone that tries to change regardless of their past?

and the answer to that being to just kill him?

like how does that solve anything? he died thinking he was in the right, that witches are still spawns of satan or whatever tf. it just feels like it goes against what the show established.

now dont get me wrong, the scene of him trying to manipulate Luz for the millionth time and her just staring him down completely unfazed is amazing, it says more than any actual words could ever. what isnt is then Raine, Eda and King immediately stomping him afterwards, which again, just proofs Belos' point that witches are "evil" from his perspective. (how did he even die from that when even mf Collie wasnt able to kill him? and ne got hit by a car and that *still* didnt kill him either, it just feels like he shouldve survived that)

so imagine if instead of them stomping him down they decided to imprison him, that will of course also have the effect of saving him from the boiling rain. so now Belos has to live with the fact that it was witches that saved him, the same witches he'd never show that kind of mercy to, the same witches he would murder the second he got the chance, and what makes it worse is the fact that the human, the one he oh so creepily obsessed over didnt even do anything, wouldve left him suffer in the boiling rain if she had the choice.

and just generally, letting him actually *live* with the consequences of his actions would have been so much more fitting. like dying is easy, wayy too easy, an escape from consequences, but actually living with said consequences, well thats delightfully horrific.

and his death isnt the only way that they done him dirty, the Titan also basically just said that Belos is just evil and theres nothing more too it, when there literally is?? like hello what were all thos Hollow Mind paintings for if not to show that Belos aint just pure evil, how he is a victim of shitty circumstances, yet how despite that it doesnt excuse the extent to which he took shit to.

and the just forgot about that?

... oh right, they forgot the memory paintings even existed untill someone posted their own redraws of them, no wonder they fucked Belos' character up so much :/

man im getting tired from rambling this much lol

but overall its just toh has so many missed opportunities, i could go on and on about them, although not like my rambles make any sense probably, and many people have def explained similar point much better so im just gonna shit up now.

(and of course im gonna rewrite this for my oc x Belos au <3 )

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Labyrinth Runners" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won't read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

And what's this? ANOTHER Gus episode? Wow, that's like...two more than we got last season. I bet the Gus fans are happy about that one.

As for me, I'm also happy. Because, to tell you the truth, I always found Gus...the most uninteresting character in the main cast. I never hated him. At all. It's just that compared to Luz, Amity, Willow, Eda, King, and even Hunter, Gus does not have much going for him, at least to me. "Through the Looking Glass Ruins" was a good start in the right direction, showing fans his insecurities of being an illusionist, but...

Luz is a human girl who has to decide if she wants to be with her mother again or be stuck with the only friends she's ever made in her life.

Amity grew up in a home life where her parents forced her to be everything they wanted her to be instead of letting Amity choose her own life.

Willow spent years being bullied by her peers, giving her self-confidence issues she had recently confronted.

Eda is a woman trying to be the best caretaker she can be while dealing with this curse that destroyed some of the best relationships in her life.

King is a child who wants his original family again, only to learn that he's the last of his species that got hunted to near extinction.

AND DO I EVEN HAVE TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT HUNTER AT THIS POINT?!

In other words, while Gus can be engaging, he's not the character that I'm most excited about taking the spotlight compared to everyone else. But I'm willing to bet that "Labyrinth Runners" is the episode to change that. Because Season 2B is on a winning streak, and I doubt that my boy will get out of this episode emotionally and maybe even physically unscathed.

Spoilers below.

WHAT I LIKED

No Luz, Eda, and/or King: Let's start things off by saying this was the best possible decision.

We already have a good idea of what our main Trio is up to and why they're absent for the week. It makes sense why we don’t see them, and it comes with the benefit of giving more screen time to the rest of our main cast. Added with some much needed development for certain characters.Don’t get me wrong, I am curious of what happened at the Owl House, especially after how last week’s episode ended, but that’s for next week to solve.

For now, let’s give some of our other characters some more love.

The Opening Scene: Speaking of more love, can someone give baby Gus a hug? Please?

This opening ties back to the insecurities Gus felt in “Through the Looking Glass Ruins.” He’s the smartest and most gifted Illusionist around, but he also feels too easy to trick. It tells us how willing Gus is for a friend that he looks past red flags and reason. For instance, if someone tells you to do all their homework, it’s probably a sign that they don’t care about you at all. Gus learned that lesson the hard way, and his pain is both genuine as it is hard to see.

This then leads to some solid foreshadowing of what the “Labyrinth” in the title will be, as we see what happens when Gus panics. I’ll get into the ideas behind the “Labyrinth” later, but for now, I’ll say that this is an interesting way to illustrate how a person like Gus can get inside his own head, making the self-deprecating voices real people to torture him. It’s heartbreaking as it is fascinating.

How Gus Met Willow: Thankfully, we get some fluff to this heartbreak.

I mean, the writers didn’t NEED to show young Gus and Willow meeting for the first time and being oh, so cute together…but they did. And I love it. So much of this second half of the season has been one stab to the heart after the other. So, I’m glad we got to see a cute moment for a change. It was nice.

Mattholomule, Emira, and Edric in Multi-tracks: And this…was unexpected.

We actually get a showcase of great character development here. Mattholomule, after learning how impressive Illusion magic can be, decides to give it a go himself. It presents that he’s willing to be more open minded and that he wants to be closer to Gus. As a friend, of course…or possibly something more.

Then there’s Edric, who took the misadventure with Eda and King as a learning experience as he decides to embrace his interests and mix-match his tracks. Even Emira’s following in her brother’s footsteps and learns more about healing magic. And, who knows? Maybe this could be something her and Viney could bond over…if they ever get a chance to meet.

What’s worth noting, though, is the teacher saying how happy she is to see students mixing tracks. For one, it shows how not everyone subscribes to Belos’ ploy of doing one type of magic for the rest of their life. This teacher actually misses doing more than Illusion magic and she’s glad that her students are allowed more freedom. It’s also intriguing that this is the happiest students have been in Hexide. Crazy to think that if you give kids will be happy if you give them the chance to do whatever, huh?

But by far, the best thing about this reveal, is that it becomes the crux of this episode. Because students keep mix-matching tracks, Belos reasonably gets pissed and decides to send one of his top coven heads into tricking kids into joining a coven. It’s f**ked up…and I love it. I love that this moment that made me happy for the characters quickly makes me worried about them.

But this is about members of the supporting cast. Let’s talk about our main players.

Willow and Amity Tension: I mean, this IS Gus’ episode…but this little plotline is definitely appreciated. I’ve already mentioned that while things are better between Willow and Amity, that doesn’t mean things are fixed. There are still issues they need to confront, with today’s problem being how Amity sees Willow as the little wall flower who couldn’t summon an abomination properly. On the one hand, I can understand Amity’s point of view. She’s hardly got to spend time with Willow unless Luz was present, barely getting a chance to see how capable Willow’s become. Amity and Willow JUST became friends again, and Amity doesn’t want to lose Willow a second time.

On the other hand, I obviously side with Willow here. It’s annoying when people see you as one way when you’ve worked hard to live past those expectations. This makes Willow’s frustration more than valid, as I’m sure she would love to be friends with Amity again but Amity’s inability to realize that Willow’s changed makes it difficult for them to pick up where they left off. “Labyrinth Runners” gives hope, though, as Amity quickly adjusts to the new Willow after a stern, well-deserved outburst. Amity isn’t the more talented one while Willow’s still learning. They’re both talented, and may those who cross them beware. You’re dealing with two former besties who are trying their best but can still very much kick your ass.

Hunter Hiding in Hexide: And now let’s see what Gus’ co-star this week has been up to.

Hunter hiding in Hexide might sound a little too convenient for the plot, but it kind of make sense. Hexide is quite possibly the last place Belos would think to look and it comes with the benefit of Hunter having a roof over his head. Also, free snacks.

Now, you’re probably asking “Why doesn’t Hunter just hide out at one of his friends' houses?” Well, to put it bluntly, Hunter doesn’t trust anyone anymore. The one person he thought he could believe in turned out to be a witch hunting maniac who has killed dozens of people like Hunter in the past. That type of thing could certainly put a damper on one’s faith in others, so I can understand why he would camp out in a place that provides resources without having him to rely on anyone but himself…and Flapjack.

Obviously, he’ll still trust Flapjack.

Unfortunately, even though Hunter tried to escape Belos, the Emperor’s influence tends to find its way to him.

Adrian Graye: I hate this guy. He nearly tricked students into joining a coven, almost forced Gus into a coven he has zero experience in, brought back old wounds Hunter has with Belos, and put Gus through physical discomfort just to get some information. Adrian Graye is a despicable son of a witch…but MAN is he also a delightful son of a witch, too!

Don’t get me wrong, I still hate him. But he’s also everything I’d expect from the head of the Illusionist Coven: Flamboyant with a knack for showmanship to the point where he treats every illusion like putting up a stage show. It’s the perfect personality for such a devious foe, AND he’s a spot-on antagonist for a Gus episode. Can you think of anybody better for Gus to go toe-to-toe with than a master illusionist? I can’t. And I’m glad that Gus came out on top. We all joked about how it’d be him who gets traumatized this episode but, if anything, it’s Adrian Graye who’s more mentally scarred by the day’s events. That’s actually a nice twist on expectations, while also making Adrian Graye get everything he deserves. Odds are, we won’t see him again given how little time this show has left, but I still appreciate what we got with Adrian. He’s a son of a witch, but he sure was a ton of fun.

Gus Makes the “Labyrinth”: I keep putting “Labyrinth” in quotation marks because it’s not exactly a labyrinth. A labyrinth is a maze that’s constantly changing, making it difficult to travel through as one room could easily be one you’ve already been into with the trail you leave behind getting lost during the journey. What Gus made is more or less an actual maze, being difficult to traverse but not impossible.

With that said, what Gus did is incredible. He basically made a maze where it’s hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t. It’s an interesting idea, added by the fact that Gus can partially see through the illusion…which is something that’s barely touched upon, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

What I love, however, is how powerful this makes Gus look. He managed to make a convincing maze of places in his memories completely by accident, and it’s enough that the head of the Illusionist Coven was impressed. And if this is something that Gus can do by accident, imagine the crazy things he can pull off on purpose. Something tells me that the trick he pulled in “Through the Looking Glass Ruins” is just the tip of the iceberg for what Gus can pull off, and I can’t wait to see how he can top it.

Gus and Hunter: And now that we’re already talking about how awesome Gus is, let’s go into how he was the perfect partner for Hunter this episode.

Hunter’s shell is now fully cracked, with recent events leaving him a soft, sad boy. And it takes another soft, sad boy to help him. Gus knows how it’s hard to trust people, getting burned way too often by people he thought would be his friend. So, knowing how vulnerable Hunter is, Gus offers advice AND helps him learn that there are people worth trusting. What I personally adore is the breathing technique Gus teaches. It was a lesson he got from Willow in a moment that Gus learned he isn’t alone with his anxieties. He just needs to take a breath, get out of his own head, and focus on the person who’s genuinely there for him. Gus teaches the exact same thing to Hunter, and it is everything he could ever ask for after what he went through in “Hollow Mind.”

Hunter also pays this kindness forward in spades. He goes out of his way to protect Gus from danger, even confronting his own traumas just to save Gus. And, when he sees Gus going through some anxiety himself, Hunter tries to help him with the same breathing techniques Gus taught. It’s a genuinely wholesome moment that kind of makes me even more mad that The Owl House got cut down as badly as it did. We could have gotten MORE scenes of these bros being bros, but instead, we have three episodes left with three hour long specials. Something tells me that brotherly scenes between Gus and Hunter are a bit of an impossibility. Still, I’m glad we got to see these two together. It’s short-lived, but sweet.

Hunter Seeing Through the Fake Willow: It’s also sweet that Hunter can tell a fake Willow when he sees one. Unlike Amity, he’s well aware of how Willow isn’t someone to be messed with. So, he sniffed out that guard’s BS of her being scared in an instant.

Also, don’t think I didn’t notice him still calling her Captain. That’s a pet name in the making if I ever saw one.

Willow Standing Up for Hunter: And awwwwww! Willow standing up to Hunter is so sweet. It proves that even though things didn’t end well between them in “Any Sport in a Storm,” she knows that he’s someone worth trusting. And it’s just SWEET! I love it! Love these two. May they be happy together forever because, let’s be honest, it’s gonna happen.

Alright, that’s enough mushiness. Let’s talk about the best scene in the episode now.

Hexside Fighting Emperor’s Coven: Deep down, I always knew I wanted to see the students of Hexside teaming up to fight the Emperor’s Coven, but seeing it in THIS episode? It was mildly unexpected but VERY appreciated. Seeing everyone work together and combine their spells was awesome, giving me a glimmer of hope that perhaps are favorite characters might do fine in the inevitable showdown against Belos’ forces.

It also gave us this image:

And I will be forever grateful towards whoever is responsible for this beauty.

Gus’ Memories of Insecurities: Unfortunately, while awesomeness is appreciated, it can never last forever. We get some solid angst from Gus here, showing much more of what the opening gave us a peak of. There are expectations for him being skipping a few grades, so when he makes dumb mistakes it crushes him. Thankfully, he had Hunter to pull him out of this pit, returning that same kindness Gus gave him and making everything go full circle. It does a lot for Gus’ character and Hunter’s as well.

Hunter’s First Hug: And just like that, Hunter is part of the main group. Yup. That’s all it takes. Helping your little buddy and getting a hug. And good for him. He needed a hug more than I need a fixed wrist…no, seriously, my wrist is killing me for reasons beyond my comprehension and it’s getting me a little worried at this point.

But enough about me. Hunter’s a main player now, and I’m all for it.

Hunter Explaining to Everyone What’s Happening: And what’s a better main character move than telling everyone you know that everything they know is a lie and that they’re all going to die?

Jokes aside, this is a solid, ominous way to end the episode, making the audience wonder how everyone is going to this shocking news and excited to see what they do with it.

Yet another perfect end to a perfect episode to, let’s be honest, a perfect series.

WHAT I DISLIKED

Did you see how many times I’ve said the word perfect? This episode is a masterpiece. Deal with it.

IN CONCLUSION

“Labyrinth Runners” is yet another A+. It does wonders for Gus’ character, does a great job at bringing Hunter into the main group, and continues to strengthen Willow and Amity’s friendship. I could nitpick…but I don’t feel like it. Just accept that this episode is perfect, and just run with it.

[polar534]

Jersey Stealing Pt.2

Well. You all need to stop liking my stuff. It only encourages me. Anyways, Jersey Stealing is now at a 4 parter so I lied before apparently. I just got done writing part 3 so I’ll post the second part here now! Honestly it’s the most boring of the 4... so... apologies. I’ve said too many numbers now.

Also eventually I’ll learn how tumblr works and actually just... make a master post... or like link back to previous parts. Ah... dreams. Anyways, we meet a new character today. Apologies in advance, this do be the boring part out of the bunch.

***

“Ms. Noceda?”

“Can you tell me about Luz’s classmates?”

The dish dropped from the woman's hands. The sound of it clattering back into the sink echoed throughout the quiet house.

“I’m sorry!” Amity yelped as the sharp sound caused her to wince.

Camilla turned around quickly, holding up her hands with a smile on her face.

“No, no. It’s fine.” Camilla reassured her gently. “The last time I was asked that, it wasn't a pleasant talk.”

“So, it’s not good then.” Amity sank deeper into her seat at the kitchen table.

In all honesty, there was a part of her that already knew that the truth wasn't pretty. It was the same part that caused a painful twist of her heart whenever her girlfriend 'shut down'.

Camilla sighed. She reached over to the counter and grabbed a towel, drying her hands as she sat down on the opposite end of the small table.

"Well, I'm sure I don't need to tell you this but Luz has always been..."

"Odd." Amity finished for her.

The older lady nodded and suddenly the bags under her eyes seemed to darken. Camilla Noceda looked tired.

"At first, it wasn't such a big deal. Every little child starts off 'odd'." Camilla chuckled. "But eventually all the other kids grew up, while Luz's imagination grew wild."

Amity clenched her fists. She knew where this story was going. Knew how easy of a target a girl like Luz was. After all, it wasn't too long ago that she would jump on the 'odd' ones at school.

"She began to make her classmates feel... uncomfortable. Those who didn't go out of their way to avoid her, lashed out, especially because my daughter doesn't exactly know how to take no for an answer."

"That's an understatement." Amity laughed softly as Camilla cracked a small smile.

"Every school we tried her in had it's own problems. Eventually I think Luz finally understood how the other kids felt about her. That was about when we found a school that seemed to work... but of course there were still problems. And there was also Bryce."

Amity's ears twitched. Bryce? Camilla must've noticed her confusion as the older lady lifted her glasses and rubbed her nose tiredly.

"Bryce was, or rather is, a mean kid who thinks he deserves the world. And because he is the 'star athlete' of the school and is well liked by all the teachers... he usually gets it."

Guilt began to twist in Amity's heart. This sounded all too familiar.

"Him and Luz always got into it. He was the only person who ever managed to bother her. Everyone else she simply... ignored."

Camilla sighed heavily and looked at the table. Amity could tell it bothered her, the way Luz was treated. The witch wondered if Camilla was happier now that Luz had found so many friends in another world.

Or if maybe she was still just stuck in the past.

Amity pushed aside her feelings and Camilla's both as she tried to puzzle together what might have happened the other night. If it was just another spat with Bryce, well, Amity saw how Luz used to handle Boscha. That kinda fighting didn't get to her like this...

Even now, 2 days later, it was obvious something was still bothering Luz.

As Amity sat there, sinking further and further into her chair, another question entered her mind. One that she just had to know... even if it was painful.

"Was there anyone?" The witch blurted out after a short pause.

Camilla looked up at her quizzically.

"Anyone who was... nice to Luz? Or at least gave her a chance."

Amity's heart sank as Camilla shook her head sadly.

"I wouldn’t call the girl nice, but Luz always came home gushing about a Sasha. She was a fine enough girl, never joined the other kids in bullying Luz. I think that’s why Luz held on to the hope that one day they could be friends."

***

“Alright. What’s up with Luz?”

Amity turned as the team captain of the Otter’s skated up to her. The witch immediately turned her head back to look at her girlfriend, sitting quietly in the players box, scribbling something in her notebook.

Luz hadn’t moved all practice.

“Yeah, we noticed all right.” Lokte acknowledged Amity’s unspoken question as she turned back to them with a heavy sigh,

“I don’t know.” Amity answered sullenly.

The witch had nothing. Even the answers Camilla gave her this morning didn’t seem to help. Her shoulders slumped as Lokte lined up for their next shot.  

A loud crack echoed around the rink as the puck sailed straight into the goal. Amity’s eyes flicked up once again to Luz. Normally a shot like that would have her out of her seat and cheering.

Instead, the rink remained quiet.

Lokte kicked up some ice as they skidded back around to rest near Amity again. Leaning against their stick, they raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t know?"

"No." Amity growled, digging at the ice with her skates. "And it's getting worse..."

Lokte shifted, tossing their stick in the air flippantly. Amity could tell Luz's behavior was worrying them too. They were anxious to do something.

"All I know is that something happened at our game the other night. Luz ran into her old classmates."

Her captain growled, and Amity knew why. When the team first started to bond with both her and Luz, they wanted to know why they weren't enrolled in any local school. It was a fair question and Luz told them that they were too cool for school. Amity only told the truth to some of her teammates later. About how poorly Luz was treated and how she had decided to be homeschooled when she came back from 'camp'.

Lokte was one of the more vocally upset ones, having been treated similarly themselves for being who they were. Amity watched as their face changed into a slightly more hopeful expression.

"Wait, you said this happened the other night? My brother goes to Luz's old school, he went to the game with a couple of his friends. I'll bother him about it when I get home. See if the little weasel heard anything." Lokte grinned.

Amity could only stare at them, she glanced back up to Luz as her fingers curled tighter around her stick.

"Try to get names for me. I understand if Luz doesn't want to talk, but I'm looking forward to having a... conversation... with whoever is responsible for this."

Amity felt a gloved hand on her shoulder. Turning around she saw was met with the supportive eyes of her team captain.

"I'll let you know as soon as I know." They nodded.

***

- Is Luz home?

- Yeah she's asleep. Why?

- I'm coming over.

Amity stared at her phone. The short conversation with Lokte happened only a few minutes earlier. She didn't know where they lived, or how they knew where she lived. The witch could only guess it had to do with her girlfriend who was currently passed out, snoring, on her lap. Amity dropped the phone to her side and let her face sink into Luz's hair. In the background she could hear the movie that they had put on earlier, but she couldn't care less about it at the moment.

Amity loved the end of every night, when she was finally able to have Luz all to herself. Squeezing the human ever tighter, Luz sleepily snuggled further into her girlfriend’s arms with a large smile on her face.

The witch sighed as she heard a buzzing come from nearby. It was her phone. She felt a sharp flicker of annoyance, before gently kissing Luz's forehead and leaning back to check it.

Swiping across the screen she answered the call.

"Hey. I'm out front. You're going to want to hear this." Lokte voice answered, their tone guarded.

Amity glanced down at Luz who was still snoring away.

"Alright, give me a moment." Amity told them quietly, hanging up.

Taking a deep breath, she shifted Luz aside her on the couch. Her girlfriend groaned softly, but Amity simply grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to tuck her in, silencing any sleepy protest that would follow. Leaning down she swiped her jersey off the floor and gave it to Luz. For being almost entirely asleep, Luz snatched it quickly from Amity's hands, relaxing back into sleep as she buried her face into the material.

Amity smiled softly. She already couldn't wait to get back under the blankets with her. Grabbing a coat from the front closet, the witch opened the door and slipped out into the night. Standing on the front lawn, Lokte held a squirming kid by the ear.

"Come on, let me go already!!"

"Tell her what you told me!" Lokte ordered sharply, letting the boy's ear go and shoving him forward.

Amity raised an eyebrow. This must've been the little brother.

"Fine. Yeesh! Like I told my sibling over here," the boy turned around to glare at the hulking figure of Lokte before turning back to Amity, "I went to the game with a group of my friends. Sasha and Bryce left to go grab some snacks and when they came back Sasha was really shaken up and Bryce was pissed. They told us something about a really creepy delusional girl who was stalking you. Claiming to be your girlfriend."

Amity's eyes narrowed.

"I don't see why I'm in trouble! We were just watching out for Amity. I mean Bryce usually over exagerrates everything but this was serious. Sasha looked genuinely freaked out, and nothing EVER gets to her. They told the girl that they would call the cops on her if she came near you and then we left shortly after. That's it. That's all that happened. I don't even know what the creep looked like."

Amity's mind was buzzing with anger. She could feel her face going red and had to remind herself to breathe as she heard the two siblings begin to squabble.

"You little, THAT WAS LUZ! Amity's actual girlfriend!"

The boy's eyes widened as they shot between Amity and Lokte.

"Wha- I didn't, I didn't know that!! I swear! The way Bryce was describing her you'd think she was some sort of criminal!" He yelped as Lokte grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket.

"Go. Wait. In. The. Car." They growled. "We'll talk about your choice in friends later."

The boy shrank under his sibling's glare and Amity felt a small bit of pity. Lokte was no small person, they towered over pretty much everyone they met and had the muscles to match. Being on their bad side had to be terrifying, but in actuality that was nothing compared to the pure fury radiating off of Amity as the brother's words registered.

After they watched their brother climb back into the car, Lokte turned to Amity and immediately flinched in fear under the witch's furious stare.

"Looks like I'll be paying Luz's old school a visit tomorrow." Amity growled after a short pause.

Lokte's fear eased only a bit as their eyes lit up with mischief. "Let me know if you need anything."

"I'll see you tomorrow at practice." Amity nodded, ignoring the suggestion as she turned to walk back into the house.

She stopped with her hand on the door handle and turned around. Lokte was climbing back into their car. The teammates shared a look as Amity nodded.

'Thank you.' She mouthed.

Lokte gave her a small smile.

'Anytime.' They mouthed back, turning on the car and pulling away.

When Amity went back inside, she crawled back into Luz's arms, squeezing her close. Tomorrow, she would have to talk with Luz about what she had learned, but tonight?

Tonight Amity buried her head deep into Luz's shoulder, her anger draining rapidly under her girlfriend's warmth.

Regardless of how Luz was always somehow able to relax her, Amity laid there wide awake. Wishing she could do something, anything, to somehow fix the years of emotional abuse Luz had suffered.

All she could do however was hold Luz closer and wait until morning...

[l-egionaire]

My Willumity Story

Ever since I started reading the pieces of @edasnest also known as @prinxlyart I've fallen down into the Willumity hole and have had this idea for how they got together brewing for a while o. So I thought I'd share it. In a story format a bit similar and a bit different to @prinxlyart pieces.

It started one day during Lunch at Hexside after Amity had yet another Luz induced gay disaster attack. While Luz doesn't notice, Willow (who has known about Amity's crush since the Grudgeby game) did and has had just about enough of seeing her old friend spazz out whenever the human girl so much as breathed on her. So she point blank tells Amity that she needs to just ask Luz out.

And of course, Amity says she can't just ask Luz out. It could scare her away, it could hurt their friendship. (Or, some secret part of her thinks, Luz would reject her and she wouldn't be able to handle that.)

But Willow was persistent and gave Amity an ultimatum: Either ask Luz out by the end of the school day or Willow would ask Luz out herself.

"W-what?! You can't do that!"

"Why not? Its not like she has a girlfriend."

"But-but its not fair! You know I like Luz!"

"Well then Witch up and tell her that. Or I'll take my shot at her."

*sigh* "Okay."

Amity could tell Willow was serious so she tried her hardest to ask Luz out but the words always end up getting stuck in her throat. By the time school was nearly over, she still hadn't managed to muster the courage to tell Luz her feelings. And unfortunately, her last class wasn't one she had with Luz. Once the bell rang, she raced over to where Luz's locker was and found Willow just a bit away from there too. They both noticed Luz getting her things from her locker.

Willow gave Amity a raised brow.

"Well?"

"I-I....just give me until tomorrow?"

Willow just rolled her eyes and before Amity could do anything, she walked straight over to Luz.

"Hey Luz. Would you like to go out on a date with me?"

Luz's eyes bulged out with shock.

"W-what?"

"Uh, if you don't want to its fine-."

"NO! No, I'd love to! Uh, where should we go? What time? Ooh, maybe we could-."

Meanwhile, Amity just watches the whole thing with a look of utter defeat on her face.

That night Willow and Luz went on a date to the Boiling Isles bazaar and Willow was shocked at just how much she enjoyed it. They went to all sorts of fun shops and spots and Luz ended the night by taking her flying on Eda's staff. And when she took her home, Luz even kissed the back of her hand. It was amazing.

Willow just assumed the date would be a one time thing but just two days later Luz asked her if she wanted to go out again.

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. I just thought that since you were interested in one date then maybe...you'd be interested in a second?

"....Sure. I'd like that."

So they went on a second date. And two dates turned to three. Then four, and five, and within a few weeks they became known around Hexside as one of the most popular couple. While some, like Boscha, made some mean jokes about "the two freaks falling for each other" everyone else just gushes about how cute the two of them are together.

But those first few weeks were also the worst of Amity's life. Every time she saw Luz and willow together her heart clenched with jealousy and anger. At school she avoided them whenever she had the opportunity. It had become common for her to go home and cry into her pillow over having lost her chance with Luz.

But, unbeknownst to either Willow or Amity, Luz was facing a crisis of her own. Luz had actually had feelings for Amity for quite some time and while she had come to love and care about Willow as they dated, there was a part of her that couldn't still help but think about how it would feel to go on dates with Amity or if Amity's kiss on her cheek would make her feel the same way Willows did. She felt so guilty that she was still thinking about these things even after dating Willow. Whenever she was around Amity and her heart started fluttering like usual did the sensation was followed by her guts twisting with guilt. It got so bad, she had even stopped having Azura book club meetings which only made them both more miserable.

Things came too a head one day when Amity once again went to a different table to eat lunch instead of going to eat with Luz, Willow, and Gus. Willow had become good at noticing Luz's emotions lately and she could easily see how hurt her girlfriend was from Amity not sitting with them. So she decided to go over to Amity's table and talk to her.

"Amity, you shouldn't be all by yourself. Come sit with us."

"No thanks Willow. I'm fine."

While she knew it was a bit of a low blow, Willow said. "Luz really wants you to sit with us."

Amity gave her a venom filled glare. "Well you would know what Luz wants wouldn't you?"

"Don't be like that."

"Oh I'm sorry, how am I supposed to be?"

"You're supposed to be happy that your friends are happy together! Not acting like a jerk."

"Well excuse me if I'm not thrilled that the two of you are dating!

"Well maybe you should've thought of that before you lost the bet to ask Luz out!"

Suddenly a loud crash came from behind them. They both looked and saw to their horror that Luz had come over to where they were sitting and was now staring at them with wide eyed shock, her tray having fallen from her hands and clattered against the ground.

""Luz! I was just telling Amity-."

"Willow, You....You only asked me out because of a bet?"

Luz's voice cracked with sadness and Amity and Willow looked at each other, trying to think of how to explain.

"No!....Yes? Not exactly-."

"It wasn't really a bet. It was more like a, a, a dare!"

Hearing that only made Luz recoil in shock. "A dare?"

Willow and Amity continued to try and explain but Luz's ears filled with a loud buzzing noise that drowned out anything else. The moment she heard the word "dare" her mind immediately flashbacked to 7th grade when a boy had asked her out on a date and she'd been so excited that someone actually liked her only to be crushed when she heard him and his friends laughing about him doing the dare of "asking out the freak."

Luz slowly started backing away and choked out "I...I have to go. " Before running off.

Willow and Amity immediately race after her. They found Luz curled into a ball at her locker. Willow went and sat by her side while Amity stood slightly off to the side.

Willow tried reassuring Luz that while the bet may have been why she'd asked her out, she'd come to love Luz and she truly cared for her.

And Luz manages to tearfully fire back that she shouldn't because she was a bad girlfriend.

"Luz, no. You're a great girlfriend-."

"If that were true, then I wouldn't be thinking about Amity the way I think about you!"

Their eyes widened at her response.

"I've had a crush on Amity since before we started dating. And even after we did I-I couldn't stop thinking about what going on dates with her might be like or what kissing her might be like. And I just feel so terrible because you've been so good to me and I don't deserve it!"

Luz continued to weep into her arms. Willow looked at Amity who was completely gobsmacked at Luz's admission and then turned back to Luz.

"Maybe I don't care about that."

Luz raised her head slightly while Amity raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Amity has a huge crush on you."

Now it was Luz's turn to be bug eyed while Amity made a sound like a mix between a choke and a gurgle

"What!?

"Yep. In fact, you were the one she wanted to ask to Grom."

It was then Amity managed to regain her ability to talk.

"Willow! You-I-What are you doing?!"

Luz stood up and looked at Amity.

"Is that true?"

"I, uh, well, you see,.....yes?"

"Amity...."

"Well the way I see it, I like you and Amity likes you and you like me and Amity. So maybe, you shouldn't have to choose which one of us you like more."

"Willow....are you implying what I think you're implying?"

"Yeah, I mean I love a good OT3 as much as the next person but would you really be okay with that?"

Willow rose up from the ground a pressed a quick kiss to Luz's lips.

"What I want most is for you to be happy. And if Amity is what would do that then..."

Willow pulled Luz along as she walked over to Amity was. Then, with a quick twirl and push, moved Amity in front of her so that she and Luz were now just inches apart from each other. Their faces burned bright at their sudden proximity to the other.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"So, you really like me?"

"Of course. I mean, your cute, smart, like Azura books, read to kids. What's not to like?"

"Oh. Wow. ☺"

"And you really like me?"

"Oh yeah. I mean your sweet, and kind, and funny, and brave, and so cool-."

"Okay, Jeezy. Heh. Such a flatterer."

Willow chuckled at how cute they were. "Are you two going to kiss or just stay here all day complimenting each other?"

"Uh, well, we don't have to kiss. I mean we did just start...whatever this is. We could wait if Luz doesn't-."

Before Amity could say another word, Luz pecked her lips against hers. Amity froze and her whole face turned the color of a strawberry, then she fell over.

"Oh my gosh! Amity!"

Willow just watched them with amusement. This looked like the start of a beautiful relationship.

[firstofficertightpants]

In Your Honor - CH. 2

Luz has wanted nothing more in life other than to join the ranks of the Emperor's Knights - the highest rank of royalty defenders, but after a disaster of a first impression with the bratty princess, she starts to wonder if it’s worth it.

Previous Chapter

The Blight Castle was even more extravagant in person. Tall white stone walls surrounded the beautifully crafted towers, lined with gold that sparkled in the sun. Stained glass windows with murals of the past Blight family members doing acts of greatness could be seen from the front gate, the gate itself made of polished brass shaped to look like roses.  Standing on each side of the gate were two members of the Emperor’s Knights. Their white capes flutter in the mid day wind and faces obscured by their expertly crafted bird head shaped helms. The two guards didn’t so much as move as Luz approached, her aunts lunch in hand.

“Uh, Hello! I'm here to see Lilith? She’s my aunt.” Luz explained nervously, holding up the lunch her ma had made. “I'm supposed to bring her this?”  The two guards looked at each other, one nodding its head before the other turned to pull a lever. The large brass gates open effortlessly as one of the guards motions Luz to enter.

“You’ll find your aunt on the second floor, in the study.” The guard explains as Luz walks through the gates.

Luz gives the guard a quick nod, her excitement from meeting an Emperor’s Knight barely contained, before she heads to the castle's main entrance. She heads up a large flight of stairs to the main castle entrance where she meets two more guards. Luz opens her mouth to explain herself but one of the guards simply holds up their hand to silence her. The other guard opens the door and ushers her inside before closing the door behind her with an echoing loud thunk.

If the outside of the castle was beautiful, the inside was breathtaking. Large marble columns reached up higher than Luz had ever seen. The sun shining through the stained glass windows cast gorgeous colors along the white marble floor. Satin purple runners lead to and up a large set of stairs at the far end of the room. If this was the main entrance, Luz couldn't wait to see the rest of the castle. Quickly she headed to the large stairs and up to the second floor where she was greeted with even larger halls filled with doors leading to who knows where.

Luz wandered the halls, looking for the study she was told to meet her aunt in. Along the way she ran into the knights training hall, followed by the medical ward where she got to visit her mom for a short bit of time before she had to head back to work. She managed to get exact directions from her mother on where to find her aunt. She followed the hallway she was currently in until she reached a fork, where she took a left and found the third room on the left hand side. She stopped outside the large wooden door. The handle and hinges were a polished brass while the images of ravens in flight were carved into the solid wood. Luz reached up to the knocker in the center of the door, a ring hanging out of a ravens mouth, and gave it a gentle clunk against the wood. She waited a moment before trying again. When no one answered she simply grabs the handle and twists it, peeking inside.

Standing in the middle of this room is a single person, her back turned to Luz as she looks over a book. She mumbles something Luz can’t quite hear then flips the page of her large tome. The girl looks to be about Luz’s age with green short hair pulled back. She’s wearing a lovely pink dress that complimented her pale complexion. Luz catches a glimpse of her face as she turns to look at another tome she has to her side, grumbling again as she turns another page.

“Que bella ..” Luz whispers as she leans against the door, the hinges creaking as it shifts under her weight. The sound alerts the girl to her presence and she whips around. Her face melts from surprised to mild irritation as she looks over Luz. The girl's simple garb giving away her commoner status.

“Who are you?” The girl asks. Her voice is as elegant as her features, though it was also stern and demanding.

“I'm Luz," the witch in training introduces herself, holding out her hand. "Luz Noceda." The other girl simply looks at it, her golden eyes hovering on her hand momentarily before meeting Luz’s eyes.

“Amity Blight.” The girl curtsies slightly out of sheer politeness, but it's apparent that that's the only reason. “So.. are you lost or something? I can call the stable master to come get you since it seems to be your first day.”

“I'm sorry, what?” Luz tilts her head in confusion. Was this girl calling her a stable hand?

“Well, you obviously don't belong here so.. shoo.” The elf girl makes a single shooing motion with one hand as she returns to her tomes.

“Excuse me?” Luz scoffs. “For your information, I’m looking for my aunt."

“Your aunt?” Amity returns her attention to the commoner girl, single eyebrow raised in judgement.

"Yes, my aunt." Luz confirms, matching the other girls facial expression. "So freaking rude.." The brown haired girl mumbles under her breath.

Amity whips her body to face Luz in agitation, clearly having heard that - she opens her mouth to protest -

-“I'm sorry to keep you waiting, your highness.” Lilith enters the room as if summoned by her title, arms full of scrolls.

“Auntie!”  Luz squeaks as she launches herself at Lilith, hugging her tightly.

“Auntie?” Amity echoes Luz in confusion as she watches her teacher pat the other girls head. She looks between the two. Her teacher, and elegant and well dressed member of the Emperor’s Knights and fellow elf, and Luz the.. human.

The gears in her head are turning more now than they ever had in all of her years of studying.

“I brought your lunch, just like mami asked me to.” Luz smiled, a beaming ray of sunshine in the otherwise dim room.

“Thank you, Luz.” Lilith returned the smile as she laid out the scrolls on a nearby table. She removed the lunch from the younger girls hands then thanked her by ruffling her hair. Luz giggled as Amity still stared in confusion. "You know.. while you're here, how do you feel about a tour of the castle?"

"What, really?" Luz exclaims, bouncing slightly with excitement. "That would be so cool!!"

Lilith steps out into the hall for a moment, hush voices following as the door closes. Amity simply huffs and crosses her arms as she awaits her mentor's return. For a brief moment she wishes her two companions Skara and Bascha were here to fill the silence with their bickering. Instead she was stuck with a human. Not exactly ideal to the young elf girl. Amity risks a glance at the strange being, the other girl simply bouncing with anticipation.

"Alright, Luz, if you go down the hall you'll meet with a girl named Willow." Lilith finally returns to the room, giving Amity a chance to relax as the human girl follows her aunt out the door.

Luz makes her way down the hall as her Aunt had described, taking in all the little details she could. She turns a corner a little too quickly and runs right into another person. The two tumble to the ground, a tangle of limbs.

“I’m so sorry!” Luz stands up first and goes to help the other person up, another young elf girl around her age. This one was slightly shorter than Luz and had fluffy dark hair. A pair of glasses laid skewed on her face as she dusted herself off with Luz’s help.

“No no, it's my fault.” The young elf girl says, adjusting her glasses. “Oh wow! You’re human.” She gasps, eyes lingering on Luz’s ears.

“Yeah, I’m Luz.” The bubbly girl introduces herself. “I was just looking for the girl who's supposed to give me a tour.”

“Thats me, I'm Willow!” The smaller girl circles Luz with excitement. “You must be Mrs. Noceda-Clawthornes daughter, then.” Willow deduces as she faces Luz once again. “It's been a big buzz around the castle, a human healer is kind of a big deal.”

“That’s my mom.” Luz beams proudly. “And one day I’ll be the first human to join the Emperor’s Knights.” She holds her hand out as if wielding a sword and swishes it around, the elf girl giggling at her antics.

“Well, let me show you the castle," Willow loops her arm with Luz's "Since you'll be working here some day."

Luz and Willow continue their walk through the castle, this time stopping every so often for Willow to give information on parts of the castle and Blight history. Finally they reach a room where the doors are wide open. Inside Luz could see a few students accompanied by a large purple horned woman who had to have been the teacher. Luz watches as the teacher ends the class, giving the students homework that insites a unified groan. The human girl waits to the side as Willow explains the Illusions class they had just witnessed. As she talks, a small elf boy who was in a very animated conversation with a set of twins, doesn't notice Luz standing there and runs right into her.

"I'm sorry!" He blurts out as he jumps back. He looks up at Luz and gasps, immediately reaching for his ears and pulling on his lobe. "Your ears! You're a human!"

"I'm starting to realize that's strange around here." Luz laughs. "I'm Luz, by the way." The girl introduces herself and holds out her hand. Before the boy can shake her hand the twins he had been talking to push him out of the way and both reach for her hand.

"Edric."

"Emira."

"Pleased to meet you." Luz shakes their hands respectively.

"Your highnesses." Willow bows to the twins, the two giving a small nod in response. "Ed and Em are the prince and princess." She explains as Luz tilts her head in confusion.

"Oooh!" Luz smiles before bowing as well. "I apologize , I'm still learning about the elven kingdom."

"Oh it's completely fine." Emira laughs. "We aren't really that big on royal stuff anyways."

"Too stuffy for our tastes." Edric adds on with a wave of his hand.

"That's only because you two get in trouble all the time." The small elf who had ran into Luz speaks up finally before returning his attention to Luz. "I'm Gus, by the way."

"Wow, you guys are all so nice." Luz smiles as she shakes Gus's hand. "A lot better then the first girl I met…"

" First girl?" Willow tilts her head.

"Yeah! She was really rude and thought I was a stable hand!" Luz grumbles, crossing her arms. "Do I look like I'm good with horses?"

"What did she look like?" Gus asks, still amazed he was getting to speak to a real life human.

"Oh, she was pale, had short green hair, and a really bad attitude." Luz counts out the descriptors on her fingers. The twins share a knowing look and Luz raises her brows in question. "Do you know her?"

"You could say that.." Edric chuckles.

"Though I never thought I would hear someone describe Mittens so plainly." Emira adds.

"Mittens?" Luz is now very confused.

"They're talking about their younger sister, Princess Amity." Gus clarifies.

"SHE WAS A PRINCESS?!" Luz practically yells before slapping a hand over her mouth. "I mean, she's a princess?"

"Mittens is actually the heir to the throne, believe it or not," Emira explains. "Mom and Dad couldn't pick between us so they picked her."

"There's more to it then that." Edric corrects his sister. "But who cares about that! Let's talk about you." Edric points to Luz.

"Me?" Luz mimics Edric, pointing to herself.

"Yeah!" Emira agrees with her brother. "A human in Bonesburough, that's exciting."

"It's been kind of terrifying, actually." Luz chuckles nervously. "But I'm happy for my mom, and ma seems to be excited to be home."

"Well, you should totally hang out with us sometime." Emira winks at Luz, getting a blush from the human girl.

"How about this weekend?" Gus speaks up, casually reminding the group that he was there. "You can come as one of our plus ones to Skara's birthday party."

"Great idea Gus!" Willow practically bounces in place. "You can hang out with us and learn about elves."

"Brilliant!" Edric and Emira speak in unison.

"So we'll see you this weekend, Luz." Gus smiles as him, Emira, and Edric leave to their next class.

"Alright, I think this brings our tour to a close." Willow claps her hands together. "I'll take you back to the front gate."

"Sure thing! And thanks for the tour!" Luz loops arms with Willow again before they both set off towards the castle gates. Willow bids Luz farewell before the human starts her trip back home.

The sun begins to set just as Luz reaches home. She enters the front door and announces her return, Eda responding with a greeting as the young girl enters the kitchen. Luz takes a seat at the table and begins to fill her Ma in on everything that happened. Eda listened intently as she prepared dinner, interjecting here and there. Eventually the two were joined by Camilia, the older woman sitting at the table across from her daughter. Luz excitedly tells her mother about all the new friends she made and their plans for this weekend.

Luz went to bed that night with plans to pick up something nice to wear to Skara’s birthday, thoughts swirling with all the new friends she just made.

Except, you know, for the princess.

[rohad93]

Werewolf in the hospital

As far as Halloween’s go, this one could have been better for her. It wasn’t often she ended an evening sitting in the ER, dressed as a werewolf, with a broken nose, but she couldn’t say now that it didn’t ever not happen!

The night had started fun enough. She’d been out with Gus and Willow at a party being thrown at one of their college’s many fraternity houses. One that was affectionately referred to as the ‘Illusion coven’ around campus because of its many resident students that were known for their penchant for pranks and being able to disappear without a trace when the heat was turned up in response, as well as a large handful of their students that were also members of the school’s ‘magic appreciation club’.

They of course, always threw the best parties, especially at Halloween.

This one had been no different. The music and lights could be seen from about two blocks away. There was a long line of students waiting to get in the front door, but luckily for her and Willow, Gus was a member, which got them through the door instantly.

The place was jammed packed when they finally arrived and Luz could barely hear herself think over the music that was trying to vibrate her teeth right out of her skull, but that didn’t stop her from making a beeline straight for the dancefloor with her friends in tow for the first hour. Excessive amounts of energy made dancing the perfect activity for her, even if she generally lacked any grace or coordination.

It was weird to finally be at one of these raging school parties after all the ones she had been purposely excluded from in high school.

After four years of being an outcast in high school and spending most Saturday night’s alone, watching anime or writing fanfiction to fill her spare time, she hadn’t expected her social life to really take off in college, though ‘take-off’ might have been a strong word for it. She still only had a handful of friends, but it was still a far cry from how she’d been a loner in high school.

Leaving to go to college out of state had given her an opportunity to start new, though she was still the same old Luz she had been her senior year, there were so many more people at her college with varying interests and backgrounds than her small-town high school where everyone had known each other since grade school and pretty much stuck together from the first grade on.

You release one nest of spiders at nap time and suddenly you’re branded for life as ‘that weird kid’. She didn’t like to admit how much that had really bothered her when she was a kid, but it just became the norm as she got older. It didn’t stop her enjoying life as much as she could, even if she had gotten thrown out of prom her senior year for wearing an otter onesie.

It was still nice to actually have friends now, one’s she could study with in the library or just have lunch with and not blink an eye when she said something totally bizarre, or at least bizarre by most people’s standards.

Meeting Willow, her dorm mate, and then Gus through her, had been a lifesaver and through them, she had met other student’s, some of which she shared classes with, like Viney, who despite being an upperclassman was only now taking her English comp basics so they worked together on group assignments, she was funny and easy to get along with. It didn’t take long for Luz to count her, along with Gus and Willow as her closest friends.

Viney was also dating Emira Blight, one of the infamous Blight twins, who were also members of the ‘Illusion Coven’, so she knew Viney was probably somewhere here among the many bodies packed into the large house, though the chances of running into her were slim.

She wasn’t at all surprised to see the copious amounts of alcohol that was everywhere either, that was one thing about college that TV had gotten right. College students drank; a lot.”

She watched three students doing a keg stand till beer squirted out of the guy on the kegs’ nose.

She snorted, grinning to herself and showing off the mouthful of sharp canines she had spent a good hour in the bathroom getting molded to fit too her teeth. She was, of course, the definition of a broke college student, attending entirely on a full scholarship, cause when you don’t have anyone to hang out with, you might as well study, and it was finally paying off, but she still had little in the way of personal spending money given her measly paycheck from working part-time at ‘The Owl House’ An owl themed diner just off campus owned by the most eccentric woman Luz had ever met, did not make for the most extravagant costume. But she made do with an old red flannel, ripped jeans, and some dollar store pointed ears and face paint. She had splurged a little on the fake teeth, she’d reuse them next year, werewolf was a classic after all.

Despite her less than ideal paycheck, Edalyn Clawthorne, or Eda ‘The Owl Lady’ as she was known around town, was good to her, letting her eat and drink for free or study there when she wasn’t working, and honestly, Luz kind of wanted to be Eda when she grew up. She was self-assured and didn’t care what anyone thought about her, not to mention surprisingly foxy for her age.

“You guys want something to drink?” Gus yelled at her and Willow to be heard over the pounding music and voices.

“Is there anything without an octane rating?” Willow questioned, as she watched an upperclassman drinking something straight out of the bottle at maximum speed.

After all, she and Willow were only nineteen, and Gus seventeen, he was crazy smart and had skipped a couple of grades. Luz had never had much interest in drinking, despite Eda sometimes offering her a drink from her flask with the Owl etched into the side.

She didn’t even know what was in it, only that Eda referred to it as “Mama’s magic Elixir’. She always said no and Eda would shrug and tip it back till it was empty.

“There’s punch, but I’d still be careful. Chances are good it’s already been spiked.” He shrugged.

“No thanks,” Willow shook her head and turned to look at something, the glitter on the wings of her fairy costume catching the bright colored lights overhead. She still hadn’t figured out what Gus was supposed to be. He was wearing a long red tube with a smiley face on it and long sleeves that went down to the ground that he flung about in excitement.  

“I might take my chances on those snacks!” Luz shouted, eyeing the array of treats laid out on the table for the taking. She was willing to bet no one had spiked the cake and it looked really good from here. Gus grinned and Willow rolled her eyes, smiling. Anyone who knew Luz for any amount of time knew she had a voracious appetite and an even bigger sweet tooth.

“Yeah, okay, just don’t eat everything.” Gus laughed at her.

“No promises!” She grinned back before moving across the room, trying to slide between the bodies that packed every square inch of the place and get to the refreshment table. People were moving in every direction around her as the music blared and the lights flashed, it was a little disorienting actually, but she had her eyes on the prize.

She had just made it to the table when the crowd surged and sent her careening into someone else standing there, slamming into their back and making them spill their drink.

“Watch it, nitwit! A voice growled at her before stopping. “Oh, hi, Luz.”

Luz blinked, realizing who exactly she had just slammed into, and swallowed thickly.

Amity Blight, who she did not exactly start off on the best foot with when classes had started a few months ago but now had a much more friendly relationship with.

Amity Blight, the smart and talented girl she shared creative writing and literature appreciation with. Amity Blight, who Luz had a teeny, tiny, minuscule... huge, crush on.

Amity Blight, who was dressed prettily as a witch, complete with black and green striped leggings and a pointed black hat and, who she had just slammed into and spilled her drink on.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Amity!” Luz grimaced at the wet spot now in the middle of Amity’s black blouse.

“Oh, it’s okay, really, no big deal!” Amity waved a hand, snatching a napkin off the table and dabbing at the spot.

“You sure? I could go...get you something or…,” she started, unsure.

“NO, no it’s fine, really…,” she insisted and Luz frowned. She must have embarrassed the other girl, her face was tinged red as she wiped at the spot, and was trying not to look Luz in the eyes.

‘Mierda’ Luz cursed under her breath.

Clearly, Amity did not want to talk about the spill anymore, so Luz cleared her throat, drawing the young woman’s gaze.

“What are you doing here? You don’t strike me as the… party type,” she asked and Amity rolled her eyes and Luz’s chest seized up, wondering if she’d insulted her until Amity spoke again.

“I’m not, but my brother and sister are members here and all but forced me to come tonight,” she huffed. “I’d much rather be back in my dorm, studying for our quiz in lit appreciation Monday and not getting a headache from this music.” she frowned and Luz blinked.

“Oh, Mierda! I forgot about the quiz!” Luz slapped her hands to her cheeks and Amity blinked at her before laughing.

“It was written on the board yesterday and the professor sent out an email reminder this morning.”

“Ugh, I didn’t check my email today,” she groaned, squishing her cheeks.

“Well, you still have tomorrow to study,” Amity offered.

“There was so much material to cover though…” Luz groaned. “I’m not gonna sleep all weekend, I’m going to have to cram till I push out every memory of the third grade just to make room for it all.” She frowned, already thinking about all the coffee she was going to have to drink before Monday morning, and on Monday morning.

Amity was biting her lip, thinking, but decided to take the chance.

“You can come study with me. Only if you want that is!” she quickly finished, pushing a stray strand of dyed, half mint, green, half auburn hair behind one of her ears.

“Really?” Luz asked.

“Yeah, I was just about to get out of here anyway, I’ve had enough of the party…” she said, looking around at all the people crowded into the room.

“Yeah, I’d love to!” Luz jumps on the opportunity, cause why wouldn’t she. “Oh, I came with Gus and Willow…” she remembers her friends somewhere in the house.

“Oh…” Amity seems to deflate a little at that. “Maybe another time?”

“No, it’s all good! I’m just gonna go tell them I’m headed out. You, uh, wanna meet outside?” she asks and Amity is smiling at her again and Luz just wants to melt into a puddle on the floor as those amber eyes stare back at her

“Yeah, I’ll wait for you.”    

“Great! I’ll be quick,” she promises as she runs back out into the crowd, looking for her friends. It takes her about ten minutes to find them in the living room.

“Hye guys, is it cool with you if I head out?”

“Where are you going?” Willow questions her.

“I ran into Amity, who reminded me we have a quiz in lit appreciation Monday and I really need to study and she offered to study with me, so…” she trails off, seeing the look Willow is giving her. The horticulture student is very aware of Luz’s crush, despite her never really saying anything about it. She does not count gushing to the shorter girl about how smart and pretty Amity is as ‘saying anything about it’.

“Why would you wanna leave a party to study?” Gus makes a face and Willow smirks.

“I think it’s more about who she’s studying with…” she says knowingly and Luz blushes as Gus blinks at her, confused.

“It’s cool, Luz. Go study with Amity.”

Luz does not care for the knowing way Willow says the other woman’s names, with a teasing lilt, but she’s not concerning herself with that for now.

“Thanks, guys, I’ll see you later,” She calls, already running toward the front door.  

She doesn’t immediately see Amity, in fact, the yard in front of the house is empty, everyone inside.

Luz frowns, looking around. Did she get tired of waiting?

Her chest aches a little at the thought, shoulders slumping, and is just about to turn around and go back in the house when she hears something that does not match the thumping bass of the music inside, voices. She walks quietly around to the side of the house and peeks around the wall curiously, if college has taught her anything it’s that there are students making out anywhere at any given time and not to look too closely into dark corners where sounds are coming from.  

Her eyes widen as she spots Amity right away, her back is pressed against the wall and a guy dressed in a toga is standing in front of her, leaning down over her. He’s not particularly big, but he’s standing uncomfortably close with his hands wrapped around both of her wrists, hands fisted, Amity is scowling angrily up at him. Luz’s brows furrow between her eyes and she frowns, walking over quickly.

“I said let go!” Amity snaps, trying to rip her hands free from his grip and he’s so close she can smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Come on, just a little kiss, it’s Halloween…” He leans forward and Amity turns her head away,  sneering.

“I don’t care if it’s fucking Christmas!” she snarled. “I said no!”

“Hey!” Luz shouts standing just a few feet away now. “She said no!” she growled, lips pulled back over her fangs.

“Luz!” Amity stares at her wide-eyed.

“This is none of your business bitch, go howl at the moon,” he slurred before turning back to Amity and yanking on one of her hands. She yelps in pain as he jerks her and Luz is moving forward before she even knows it and her fist is connecting with the side of his face.

He goes fumbling backward, releasing Amity as he stumbles to his butt in the grass.

“Santa mierda, eso duele!” she hissed, shaking out her screaming hand.

“Come on!” Amity grabs her other hand and starts to pull her away but then the guy is scrambling to his feet and coming at her with a strangled yell and Luz does the first thing she can think of, she uses their joined hands to yank Amity behind her and then the guy’s fist connects with her face and her world an explosion of pain and crunching noises.

She’s only vaguely aware of Amity screaming her name as her back hits the grass and everything goes black for a second but then she’s quickly pulled back to consciousness by his hand fisted into the front of her shirt and her fight or flight instincts kick in and she’s swinging wildly at his ugly mug as quickly as she can.

Her hands protest every hit that connects with his stone-hard face but she doesn’t stop and he’s swinging back, but she can hardly feel it over the constant pain radiating from her nose through her whole body.

She just clenches her eyes shut and keeps swinging, punching him as hard as she can, but then there are more voices and two large burly guys have him in a stranglehold, pulling him off her.

Amity had dashed back inside to grab the houses ‘bouncers’ standing just inside the door.

“Oh my god, Luz!” Amity holds her hands over her mouth as she kneels onto the ground next to her, looking over her face in horror.

“Ugh…” is all she can manage and then Amity is grabbing her hand and helping to her feet and dragging her across the yard, fumbling, panicked through her purse before finally pulling out her keys. She unlocks the passenger side door of a small black sedan and carefully pushes Luz into the passenger seat.

“Keep your head tilted back,” she says before closing the door and hurrying around to the other side, and jumping in the driver’s seat.

It’s only now that Luz realizes she can taste blood and reaches up to touch her top lip and pulls her hand back to see her fingers covered in the crimson liquid.

‘Well, that’s not good,’ she thinks, but it definitely explains why her face hurts so bad.

She tilts her head back but can feel it dribbling down her chin and neck as Amity pulls away from the curb, much faster than the speed limit, Luz is sure as the tires squeal.

She runs her tongue across her teeth and feels a distinct lack of a point and groans, making Amity glance at her.

“I think I swallowed one of my teeth…,” she mumbles more to herself but Amity’s pained expression turns into a grimace as they speed down the road.

Which was how she found herself sitting next to her crush in the ER with her head tilted back and the front of her once white shirt stained crimson as her nose continues to bleed.

Halloween is apparently a very popular time for injury because it’s crowded and takes two hours for someone to see her, while they wait Amity fills out her paperwork for her.

“Birthday?” she asks glumly, and Luz tells her. She hasn’t said much since they left the party, she looks miserable, and that’s coming from someone who is doing their best impression of a fountain with her nose. She can’t stand that face Amity is making. “Allergies?”

“Lactose intolerant, so no milk IV’s,” she jokes, despite the incredible pain in her face. Amity starts to write but then stops, blinking, before turning to look at her grin.

“How can you joke? You just got beat up… because of me.” she frowns.

“No, I got my block busted because some guy was being a pendejo.” Luz frowns. “It wasn’t your fault, and I wasn’t just going to stand there and let him….do whatever he wanted!” she scowled, throwing up a hand.

Amity is looking at her with an unreadable expression, but before she can say anything they are calling her back.

“Oh goody, my turn.”

It takes forty-five minutes for them to tell her that her nose is broken, which she could have told them when she caught sight of herself in a mirror, a bloody mess and her nose pushed to the side at an odd angle. No wonder Amity had been so panicked and run all those red lights.

Putting it back in place is… not fun, and then the doctor stuffs gauze in her nose and splints the outside, telling her she needs to keep the gauze in for a week and then sends her on her way with a prescription for antibiotics and some mild painkillers.

Amity is waiting for her when she comes out.

“What did he say?” she stands as Luz walks back out into the waiting room and frowns at the splint on her face.

“It’s broke.” she shrugs and Amity grimaces as they walk out back to the parking lot.

“I am so sorry, Luz.” Amity frowned. “If I’d just…”

“Hey,” Luz cut her off, she wasn’t having any of that. “I told you, it’s not your fault, technically, I started that fight… didn’t win it, but I started it,” she laughed to herself.

“You are surprisingly chipper for someone who just got their nose broken…” Amity can’t help but smile a little at the other woman’s cheery disposition.

“It’s not the first time I’ve broken something you know. The first time someone helped me along, but hey! Besides, I helped you, and that’s good enough for me.” She smiled as they stopped next to Amity’s car. Amity has a small smile on her face as she unlocks the car. “I hope this is healed up by thanksgiving or my mom is going to have a cow…,” she mumbled as an afterthought. Amity giggled to herself.

“Come on, I’ll take you home.”

The drive is mostly quiet until they pull up into the parking lot in front of Luz’s dorm building. Willow is probably already back in their room.

“Do you think this will get me out of the quiz Monday?” Luz wonders aloud as she unbuckles and Amity laughs.

“Doubtful... but…, if you’re up for it, I feel like I should at least treat you to breakfast or something for what you did… we could study after?” she offers.

Luz blinks at her, finally realizing what exactly is going on. She was certain before when Amity had asked her to study that she was just being nice, but the way she looks now, fingers tapping anxiously on the steering wheel and glancing at Luz out of the corner of her eye, she finally catches on and curses how oblivious she is at times.

“Like… a date?” she asks uncertainly and Amity flinches.

‘Y-Yeah.” she jerks her head in a nod and Luz is silent for a few seconds too long it seems. “If you don’t want to…!”

“No! No I do, want to go on a date with you, yes!” Luz nods, too fast, it makes her nose throb.  

“Really?” now Amity is turned to look at her, eyes wide, with a hopeful glint.

“Yes, absolutely.” Does she sound too eager? Probably, but she does not care, especially when Amity’s face lights up with that adorable little smile she’s seen on her face once or twice before in class when they talked and now she feels even dumber for not catching on quicker.

They plan for Amity to pick her up here at nine tomorrow morning and then Luz opens the door, but Amity stops her.

“Thank you, Luz… I don’t know what might have happened if you hadn’t shown up...” Amity says finally.

“Amity Blight, I will be your fearless champion anytime you need me too!” she declares, a fist on her chest. The bandages and bloodstains, as well as her nasally stuffed up voice, diminishes the gesture some, but Amity smiles adoringly at her none the less.

She hesitates a second before reaching across the console to lay a hand gently on Luz’s cheek before leaning forward to quickly kiss the other. Luz’s face erupts in red as her heart hammers in her chest.

“My fearless champion,” she agrees, cheeks a bright pink.

Luz’s face erupts in a grin.

Maybe the evening started poorly, but she can’t find it in herself to mind one bit.

[anxresi]

Amity’s Amends

Story: After the events of 'Understanding Willow', Amity knows she has a lot to make up for. And she'll start tonight, right in front of four people who have been the bane of her existence for too long. Get ready for a roasting, s'mores optional.

...............

Amity Blight arrived home that night after her adventure inside Willow’s head, full of more hope and determination for the future than she ever felt possible.

Her initial skepticism of the Earthling Luz Noceda had long since disappeared, and now the two could honestly even describe themselves as good friends. Maybe even more, if the way I blush whenever she hugs me is anything to go by. Just like my favorite ships in those Azura books we both like...

The young witch quickly dispelled all thoughts of frivolous romance from her head, using the same methodology she would dispel one of her enchantments if it got out of control. That’s for the future, if it happens at all. Right now I have other stuff to take care of…

She burst through the front door, half-expecting her strict parents to meet her there with the standard ‘where do you think you’re been?’ or ‘your darling brother and sister would never stay out this late’.

Whereas she dreaded such searching questions before, now an odd mixture of defiance and resilience made her itch to hear them, just so she could show off her new steadfast attitude.

Alas, there was no Mr and Mrs Blight in sight. They’d taken the night off (again) to mingle with the VIPs their family relied on for its ‘prestigious’ reputation, so her long-awaited confrontation with them was just gonna have to wait until later. Goodie. Gives me something to look forward to.

In the front room however, were two other people Amity wanted to put straight on a few things… along with a couple of surprise guests. Erica and Edmira Blight, her ‘dear’ siblings, sat on the couch with her so-called best friends, Boscha and Skara. They seemed deep in conversation, but the intense chat soon faded to a whisper the moment Amity strolled through the door.

“ Mittens!!” Edric was the first to greet his little sister, grabbing her by the shoulder to give her a light noogie. “We were wondering where you got to! I was just about to send out a search party… or at least, borrow mom’s crystal ball to track you down.”

“Great to see you, sis!” Emira smirked at Amity in a non-too genial way. “And look who’s here too! Your besties, Boscha and Skara. They came over because they tell me they’ve been worried about you lately… and I must say, me and Edric have been as well. So think of what you’re about to hear as an ‘intervention’, if you like.”

“Amity, you’ve changed! You don’t insult the other losers with us the way you used to, you don’t let us tell you how to dress, and we’ve even caught you hanging out with that Earth creature!” Skara stared at Amity unblinkingly, as if unwilling to let Luz’s dreadful name pass her lips.

“Yeah, exactly! And after all the bad stuff you said about Willow, I can’t believe you defended her today! Almost like you were... friends or something, but of course that can’t be the case.” Boscha sniggered to herself, like the mere notion was just impossible.

Amity listened to all this ‘selfless’ advice until it was over, with her arms firmly crossed and her left foot tapping on the plush carpet. “So, you’re all here today out of the goodness of your hearts, to tell me I’m hanging with the wrong crowd and I should act more like everyone else here?”

“Yeah, Mittens. I mean, we love Luz and all but…” Edric gave his opinion, hesitantly.

“...She’s just not right for you. She’s lucked out so far in her spell training, but when she crashes and burns she’ll take you down with her. Not a pretty sight.” Emira was a bit more forthright than her twin brother.

“Plus, she’s always with Willow. Ugh , instant popularity killer.” Boscha put her finger in her open mouth to illustrate her point.

“Also, what’s that other kid’s name? ‘Gas’, or something? He’s as much of a geek as the others, always going on about Earth stuff. If he likes it ssssoooo much, why doesn’t he just move there? And take those other two freaks with him?” Skara chortled at her joke, obviously thinking she’d said something hilarious.

Amity heard all this rudeness and bile aimed at her newest pals with the patience of a saint, but finally she could take no more. “ Excuse me , but his name happens to be ‘Gus’. Him and Luz are two of the nicest people I’ve met, so if you think I’m going to let you talk that way about them around me you’ve got another thing coming. If everyone in the Demon Realm was as stuck-up and conceited as you and Boscha are, believe me… I’d be on the first broomstick out of here with them! Now, what else was I going to say…”

Amity’s siblings and ‘friends’ sat there open-mouthed, unused to hearing such backtalk from someone usually so compliant, but she wasn’t finished yet. Not by a long shot. “Oh, yes. Sorry Skara, I am unable to attend your 15th birthday celebrations because of a prior… wait, I don’t have any pressing engagements. It’s just that you’re a total bitch, who I no longer want to be associated with. I set your butterfly free, too. Never mind, I’m sure there are loads of other brainless bullies out there you can hang around with, to make your fragile ego feel better about itself! Which brings me neatly to…”

If Boscha thought her obnoxious snickering was going to win her any brownie points from Amity, she was very much mistaken. “...You. I don’t know what you’re finding so funny Boscha, in many ways you’re twice as bad as Skara. You lead, her and me follow. At least, that’s the way it used to be. I hope you’re happy with this trio becoming a duo, because I am through . As for what you said about Willow, strange you should mention that as we were besties once, before I messed it all up. Now I’m trying to make up for it, by apologising a lot, attempting to be a better person and getting away from two horrible girls I only hung around with because my parents made me…”

To this last statement she gave a meaningful look at her quaking ex-pals on her couch. “...And I wonder who they could be.”

She turned around without missing a beat to her equally nonplussed siblings sitting nearby, but addressed them in slightly less harsh tones than the previous pair. “ Edric, Emira… you know I love you both dearly, even if your childish pranks do sometimes leave me wondering if you really are the older, more ‘mature’ brother and sister you claim to be. But please, stop trying to ���encourage’ me by subtly putting me down. It’s not helpful, it’s just dispiriting. And please stop calling me ‘Mittens’. That was cute when I was a baby and couldn’t put my gloves on, now it’s just irritating and makes me think you don’t respect me. Lastly, you’ll be glad to know that by tomorrow, you’ll both stand out a lot more. I’m washing the green out of my hair! Brown is so much more my color, dontcha think?!”

At this juncture, and with everyone around her completely shut down by her searing outburst, Amity stretched and gave out a fake yawn. “Anyway… early start in the morning. You know how it is: the pressures of being top student never go away. Well, see you tomorrow brother, sister… and as for you other two, see you never . Ta-ta!”

She then made her way upstairs with a noticeable spring in her step, the only things on her mind being to work hard to achieve all her goals in life, being the best friend she could be to Willow to make up for years of neglect…

And the way her cheeks flushed whenever a certain Earth girl held her real close.

Oops. Here we go again.

.......................

Well, what do you think? I know this is very unlikely to happen... after all, they do have a lot of episodes to pad out. But hopefully, now that Amity understands how some of the more toxic influences in her life have been allowed to shape her, she can start confronting them and making her own decisions.Also, it's so obvious her and Luz are a future ship. Fight me if you disagree... kidding. ;)

[rohad93]

Worth the Fight: Ch 7

Luz smashed and hacked up training dummies until her arms were too tired to hold her sword up anymore. Normally she could go for longer, but the added weight of the chainmail had sapped a lot of her usual energy. The sun had started to dip below the horizon line by the time she finally got back to the stables, the day had all but slipped away between spending time with her new friends and training, not to mention the brief trip to the nearby river to bathe, she was quite sweaty and King wouldn’t lay with her if she smelt bad, sensitive nose and all. She washed her clothes while she was at it and between the heat of the sun that had been soaking into the rocks all day and its overhead light, neither they nor she took long to dry.

Eda had always considered her habit of bathing as often as she did, which was only every other day, strange, especially since they were always on the move, and getting into messy situations, but that was how it had always been when her mother had been alive, and after the two years between her mother’s death and meeting Eda, she liked knowing she had the option.

Luz yawned as she plopped herself back comfortingly into her pile of hay next to King, who made a grunting sound at the disturbance before he set his head in her lap as she picked up the top book on her stack and opened it, running the fingers of one hand through his fur.

Gus had helped her find a book that was supposed to help her learn to read runes, but she's starting to think that witches begin learning runes at such a young age on the Isles, that even books designed for beginners are still beyond her comprehension.

What sense does it make to have a book that is supposed to teach you how to read runes be mostly in the runes you can't read!?

She slowly, and painfully read through several pages, or skimmed them really, before she can't take anymore and closed it with a snap. Why was this so hard? She was never going to learn any more enchantments at this rate. She can’t understand the book, it references some runes as though she should already know them and of course they seem to be some of the most important ones as the book mentioned them constantly.

She took a slow, deep breath and opened the book again. Luz had never gotten anywhere by giving up, that was for damn sure!

She blinked tiredly at the pages twenty minutes later and grumbled to herself.

“Luft, ild, vann, jord…...Ugh! These make no damn sense!” she held the book up overhead and shook it. King snorted, uncaring about her magical problems. “I keep seeing these four but it doesn't explain what they mean!” she yelled, frustratedly shaking the pages.

“Air, fire, water, and earth, they’re the runes for the four basic elements…,” A sudden voice broke the quiet, and Luz shrieked, dropping the book on her face with a painful thump as King jerked up at the voice. Luz can hear his deep, guttural growling as she bolted upright, whipping the book away from her face to look at the person standing in the entrance to the stall.

Amity is standing there, frozen solid as the very large, black, wolf with skull-shaped white fur on his face and horns, stands between her and Luz, lips curled back over pearly, dagger-like fangs and growling at her as rust-colored eyes bore into her, in the dimness of twilight, she was sure they’re glowing a faint red.

“King!” Luz’s sharp call made the beast back up, lips lowering back down over his teeth, but he’s still growling low and deep in his throat, and his eyes never move off her as he sat back down, body tense.

“He won’t hurt you…,” Luz said with a frown as she sees who exactly has stumbled upon her little area of the stables. What was she doing here?

Amity reluctantly took her eyes off the still growling beast to look at Luz, who is not looking at her anymore friendly

“What can I do for you,... Lady Blight…,” Luz greeted with a frown, the tone isn’t hostile but it certainly isn’t friendly either.

Amity’s hackles immediately wanted to rise in response to the tone, but she shoved it back down. After what happened in the archives, she doesn’t exactly deserve a warm welcome and she’s surprised the other woman doesn’t sic her beast on her.

“I…,” she started, fisting her hands so tightly she can feel her nails biting into the flesh of her palms, creating red, crescent-shaped divots in the skin as she took a deep breath through her nose. “I came to apologize to you,” she finally managed to get out, but her gaze flickered away from those wide, brown eyes.

Luz’s eyes grew comically wide at that as she blinked up at the noble. Surely she misheard that and Amity Blight wasn't here to apologize to her. Amity is frowning and looking anywhere but at Luz as the moment of silence stretched on before finally, those gold eyes land on her again and stay there.

"The things I said to you the other day were uncalled for, I don’t know anything about you and it was unbecoming of me to make baseless accusations, what happened at the market was an accident, and I certainly should never have raised my hand to you and I’m sorry for that,” Amity finished and Luz isn’t sure what to say at first as those gold eyes pierce into her, looking almost alive in a way as the rays of the setting sun bounce off them.

“Thank you…,” is what she finally managed to get out and Amity gave a jerk of a nod before turning to go, but Luz can’t let her go yet, if Amity can be big enough to come and make her apologies, then there isn’t any reason Luz can’t also swallow her pride and do so. “I’m sorry too,” she said, and Amity paused, turning to look at her over her shoulder. “...If my running into you got you in trouble with Sir Bump." She scratched the back of her head. "That and everything I said too, you're right, I don't know you and it wasn't right for me to assume anything…" Luz frowned, looking up at her from the pile of hay she was still sitting in. King's threatening growls had ceased.

"Thank you…," is all Amity said, voice quiet before she turned back forward and walked away, back toward the manor in the disappearing rays of twilight.

Luz watched her go, blinking.

"Well, I didn't expect that…," she said aloud, turning to King, who snorted as he plopped himself back down into the hay at her side.

Luz hummed, looking down at the book still sat open across her lap.

“Air, fire, water and earth…," she repeated what Amity had said. "If these are the four basic elements then…" she dog-eared one of the pages and set it aside before picking up the book she had learned the light enchantment from and flipped it open to a page she had been studying before.

It has a series of lines that look like a glyph, but no circle, and when she tried to draw it, nothing happened. In the corner of the page next to the lines is a rune she now recognized as ild, fire.

If the glyph she’s looking at is fire, maybe it doesn't work because it isn’t complete? She knows that putting something that could easily catch fire in a book, is probably not a great idea. She flipped around the book and can see that the other glyphs, much like the one for light, also have circles drawn around them.

Luz leaned over and dug through one of her pouches, pulling out a piece of charcoal and looking around the stall spotted a broken chunk of a board that must have come from the stables. She grabbed it and glanced again at the book laying open across her legs and drew a circle before carefully drawing the lines from the page within it.

She looked at it for a long second, checking it against the book before nodding to herself and tapped it with a finger. The lines glowed for the briefest of moments before the stall lit up in a flash as fire erupted from the glyph, making King jump up.

Luz jerked, almost dropping the flaming chunk of wood into the pile of hay she was lounging in. she quickly rolled out of it, getting hay in her hair and holding it safely above her till she was sitting in the dirt away from her very flammable bed, and set it in the dirt to burn.

“I made fire… I learned to make fire!” she grinned giddily to herself as she watched the chunk of wood burn. King didn’t look half as excited as her. “You’re just jealous…” she stuck her tongue out at him and he snorted, plopping back down in the hay, pointedly facing away from her.

Luz watched the fire burn with rapt attention till all that’s left is ash and embers glowing in the semi-darkness. When it’s gone she sat back, thinking of the manor just across the grounds.

She has even more questions now than she did before.

Amity Blight was more confusing than ever.

Luz scraped some dirt over the embers, making certain they were good and smothered, lest she wake up on fire and having burned down the manor’s stables. Once she’s certain no errant sparks will light the place ablaze, she shut her books and leaned back into her hay pile, getting herself comfortable and hummed to herself as she looked through the stables open slats at the large manor, gentle light emanating from the home’s windows.

King finally turned over, his big head laying across her stomach and she gently scratched the space between his ears, growing sleepy.

She hadn’t expected Amity to come and apologize, she doesn’t know what to think anymore.

~ ~

After breakfast Amity quickly made her way to Bump's office, she needed to talk to someone and she’s going to need permission to go where she needed to go to do that. She’s hoping to convince him that she can take a simple trip to the apothecary by herself.

The door is closed as it usually is and when she knocked, the older witch’s voice beckoned for her to enter.

“Sir Bump?” she asked as she walked in, shutting the door behind her. At her voice, Bump looked up from the parchment he had been scratching at with a quill.

“Ah, Amity, what can I do for you?”

“I’d like to go to town, I need some ingredients for some potions I’m working on,” she explained, a lie, sort of, she will be buying some things while she’s at the apothecary, but she mostly wants to talk to Willow, it’s been too long since she’s been able to have a peaceful conversation with the herbalist witch since they had to be had in secret.

Her parents had wanted her to break all her ties with Willow years ago, and she had, publicly, anyway.

As a child, Willow had been her only real friend. She had many acquaintances from other noble families all across the Isles, the kind of people her parents wanted her to associate with, but friends? No, Willow was still her only true friend.

Willow was the only person she could be honest with, or as honest as she could ever be with anyone, she thought.

She smiled to herself as Bump nodded.

“You may go to the market…,” he started, and Amity smiled. “...so long as a guard accompanies you,” he finished and her smile fell. It took everything she had to keep the scowl off her face.

She despised this, having to be accompanied everywhere like she’s a child.

“Sir Bump…” she started but he held a hand up, frowning.

“We won’t discuss this again, Amity, until Lord and Lady Blight return from their trip in some months, you are not to leave the grounds unescorted, do you understand?” his narrowed eye locked onto her. Amity clenched a fist but nodded. “Good, take a guard and hurry off to the market.” With that, he picked his quill back up and returned to his writing, a clear dismissal.

She nodded before quickly turning on her heel and made her exit, grumbling curses to herself under her breath.

Most of the guards would never let her dally in the market, it had happened before, they would insist on getting what she came for and then returning her to the safety of the manor, as though she were made of glass and if people looked at her too long she might shatter.

She scowled to herself as she stomped down the manor’s halls, still grumbling as she stopped in front of one of the windows that faced the front gate and gazed out the glass at the warm sunny day outside the manor. One other people were free to enjoy all by themselves.

While starring outside with a sour look on her face she spotted a familiar head of dark brown hair down at the front gate.

Luz.

She bit her lip thoughtfully.

Her nerves over what happened between them had soothed after the apology given and received last night, but now she’s even less sure of how she feels about the human woman, she hadn’t expected an apology, in turn, only further proving that she had been very wrong in her assumptions of the human. Time spent with her might prove nothing but awkward after their last couple of interactions

Then again, Luz also hadn’t been here long and didn’t have any real reason yet to be blindly loyal to her parents like the old guard, she could probably get away with more with the human escorting her to town…

That, over any possible awkwardness, cinched it for her, and she quickly made her way down to the front doors, where Luz and another witch she’d seen, but can’t bother to recall his name, are standing, guarding the front gate.

She grabs the dark cloak from her room first, not the one with the family crest on it that she knows her parents would prefer she wear in public, to make sure people always see her, but they aren't here, and Bump is in his office, so she couldn’t care less right now what they want.

She wasted no time walking out the front doors toward the gate, straightening her shoulders.

Luz and the other guard quickly noticed her approaching and the one immediately straightened, opening the gate for her, while Luz just looked at her curiously.

“I need an escort to the market…,” she announced as she stepped outside the fence. The other guard perked up, but before he could offer himself Amity turned her gaze to the human.

“Come with me, Luz.”

Luz blinked at her, why would she want her? Maybe they had technically made up last night if one could call it that, but even she could clearly see how eager the other guard at her side was, and Luz would be glad to be rid of him for a while. He’d been making snide little comments off and on all day to her.

Actually, this was perfect, she’d get away from him and subtly rub it in his face.

Luz just nodded and Amity seemed pleased by the minimal response as she flipped up the hood of her cloak. She leaned the pike against the gate and followed Amity away, toward town, glancing at her fellow guard over her shoulder. He was glaring daggers at her, lips pulled back over his teeth in a sneer. It didn’t seem like she could make this situation any worse, so she stuck her tongue out at him for good measure before she turned and followed after Amity into the city.

It was quiet for several long minutes, and despite the obvious awkward tension hanging in the air between them Luz just couldn't stand long stretches of quiet.

"Where are we going?" she finally couldn't help but ask.

"I need to visit the apothecary," Amity said. She doesn't really need to explain herself to the guard, but they have only just mended things, so she indulges her for the sake of keeping the peace.

"Oh, maybe Willow will be there…,” she said quietly to herself, but Amity hears and stopped dead, causing Luz to almost walk into her at the abrupt stop. She took a step back as Amity spun around to face her.

“You know Willow?” she asked, surprised.

“Uh, yeah, I spent all day with her and Gus yesterday, you know her too?” Luz asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

A twinge of jealousy shot through Amity at that. That Luz had spent all of yesterday with her closest friend. She didn't know Gus, but Willow talked of him often. She wished she could just go wherever she pleased whenever she so desired, instead of having to beg permission from her family's steward and then have her every step be watched over as though she were an infant.

She took a deep breath through her nose, trying to reign in the anger that was threatening to rise to the surface, she would only explode if it did and that was not Luz’s fault.

"Yes, we are well acquainted," she managed to say levely but adds nothing more.

“Cool, let’s go!” Without waiting for Amity, Luz started walking again toward the apothecary. Amity blinked at her back for a moment before hurrying to catch up with the other woman’s long strides, grabbing up her skirts so she can move quickly after her.

“Damn tall people…,” she grumbled to herself.

Once they reach the shop Amity quickly moves to the door, turning to Luz.

“Wait out here,” she said and Luz frowned, ready to protest, but remembered herself, she works for this woman, and that is what she’s currently doing, so she bites her tongue, but it is apparent how unhappy she is to Amity as she grunted a response and folded her arms across her chest.

Amity ignored the guards pouting and stepped inside, rolling her eyes.

Willow looked up greeting on the tip of her tongue until she realized who had walked into her shop as Amity pulled off her hood.

“Amity!” she hurried around the counter to hug the noble who smiled into her shoulder as she squeezed back.

“How did you get away from the manor?” Willow asked as she stepped back.

“I had to have an escort.” she rolled her eyes and gestured out the shop's front window where Luz could be seen leaning against the wall, arms crossed and still pouting to herself.

“Oh! I take it you and Luz cleared up your little misunderstanding then?” Willow looked at her knowingly.

“How did you…,” Amity started and Willow chuckled.

“She told me, she was asking how we could possibly be friends since you were… well, I'm not gonna say what she said, but yes, she explained it to Gus and I yesterday.”

Amity scowled at that, crossing her arms in a huff.

“You did slap her…,” Willow reminded, crossing her own arms and leaning her hip on the counter. Which made Amity sigh.

“I apologized for that… and the things I said,” she grumbled like a child being scolded by a parent.

“Did Luz apologize to you?” she asked and Amity nodded.

“She did.”

“Then why don’t we have her join us? Luz is funny.” Willow smiled and Amity knows there's only one right answer.

“Fine…,” Amity sighed as Willow walked over and stuck her head out the door.

“Come on in, Luz.” Willow held the door open for the young knight in training who smiled brightly as she slipped inside. “I know you want some tea, Amity, would you like some, Luz?” she asked.

"Please," Luz smiled as they moved to sit on some stools around the counter while Willow disappeared into the back to make tea.

Amity and Luz sat in awkward silence, Luz slapping her hands against her knees as she looked around the shop.

Amity glanced at her from the corner of her eye as she waited for Willow to return. How did she know her? Their acquaintance couldn’t have been very old because Willow had never mentioned the human before, and she had seen her only a week ago.

She decided it would be easier to simply cut to the chase.

“How do you know Willow?” she turned fully to Luz, who attention returned to her at the sound of her voice.

“Oh, I came in here last week asking for directions and she used an experimental elixir on a wound I had.” she reached up to touch the pronounced scar on her face beneath her left eye.

‘I… see,” Amity wasn’t sure what else to say to that. That certainly sounded like something Willow would do, and she already knew that she didn’t know enough about uz to make any assessments; yet.

Thankfully, Willow came back quickly with a boiling kettle and three cups.

Amity chatted with Willow while Luz sipped on her tea between throwing in her own two snails to everything, they said, which normally, would have annoyed the noble to pieces, but everything Luz added was either a good point or introduced a new way of looking at something she hadn’t considered.

Luz had a manner of speaking that was far above most commoners Amity had met before, not to mention she could read and write, something also very rare in the empire's common class.

The more Amity learned, the less she seemed to know.

They were only able to stay a couple of hours before Willow inevitably had to open the shop back up to customers

They parted with quick waves and promised to return another day as Amity pulled her hood back up.

Amity listened to Luz hum happily to herself as they walked down the street, through the thick of the market and the dense crowds.

It was windy today and a sudden gust shot through the market blowing her hood off. Her bright green hair stood out like a sore thumb among the crowd. She quickly pulled it back up and glanced around.

No one seemed to be looking at her and she sighed in relief. Luz watched her silently from a few feet behind.

While they were here she did need to pick up a few things from another shop to solidify her cover story. She turned down another section of the market, Luz still trailing behind, looking at all the different things for sale as they walked.

Something seemed to catch her interest and she hesitated.

“I’m only going to be over here if you want to look at something.” she gestured to another stall and Luz nodded as she stepped up to a stall selling, Amity couldn’t even begin to guess at, as she moved to the stall at the end of the street.

Amity had been to this particular stall many times over the years when she’d been able.

Several kinds of weapons were laid out across the wooden stand's counter, several swords, and daggers. Their shiny, silver, polished blades gleamed in the sunlight as Amity admired them.

“Back again I see, milady.” the vendor smiled at her and she smiled back. “Perhaps today is finally the day you do more than look?” he asked and Amity smiled sadly at him and shook her head.

“Not today, Lavis, probably not ever,” she admitted, shaking her head.

“Ah, never say never,” he consoled.

She spent several minutes talking with the old vendor and admiring his wares before she finally turned to make her way back to Luz. she could see her still standing, bent over a stall looking at something when a hand wrapped tightly around her arm and jerked her into a nearby alley. Before she could even think to scream a hand clamped tightly over her mouth, muffling her surprised sounds as she struggled in someone's grip. A grungy looking man appeared in front of her, and pressed the tip of a dagger tightly against the front of her throat, she could feel the point biting into her skin.

“Stop struggling and don’t make a sound,” he hissed only an inch from her face. His breath reeks and she can see he’s missing a few teeth in the front while the rest are yellowed and rotten looking.

Another man is standing behind her, one arm wrapped constricting around her waist and his hand is slapped over her mouth.

“Looky here lady Blight, you be a good girl, your parents pay us and no one gets hurt,” he said.

Amity growled under her breath, making the one behind her chuckle quietly.

“This one has some fight in ‘er,” he breathed against the shell of her ear and his warm breath made her skin crawl. “I bet I can fix that…” He squeezed her closer and real fear shot through Amity, her heart pounding in her chest at the possibilities in those words, none of them good.

“I’m sure, but let’s get her back to camp first, we can send the ransom note and then deal with her while we wait,” the one in front of her grunted, taking a step back.

The second the dagger was no longer touching her skin Amity tried to break free, jerking in the unseen witch's grip, but he seemed to have been prepared for that and his grip on her tightened, but his hand on her mouth slid down enough that she was able to sink her teeth into his hand.

He let out a pained yell as she bit down as hard as she could.

“Fucking bitch!” he snarled, jerking her back, his grip on her becoming almost crushing.

“I guess her parents aren’t getting her back in one piece.” the snaggle-toothed with frowned and stretched out his arm and pressed the tip of the blade back to her throat making her settle. “Now we’re gonna cut off some fingers to send with that note…,” he started, then in a flash of light the dagger fell away in a spray of blood and screaming as snaggle tooth’s severed hand fell to the dirt, dagger still clutched in its fingers.

Luz stood there, sword still hovering in the air after the strike, face set in a snarl.

Amity looked at her in surprise, but then she felt the grip on her waist loosen and seized the moment to slam her head backward with all her might, and a loud crunching sound echoed through the alley as the back of her head made contact with her unseen captor's nose.

“Argh!”

She jerked forward, breaking free of his arms to dart behind Luz, who stood protectively in front of her, both hands gripped around the hilt of her sword, muscles tensed, ready should either one of them make another move.

“Leave…,” she growled, while snaggle tooth continued to wail, trying to stop the torrent of blood coming from his new stump of a wrist, while the other, a bald witch in a bandana, looked at her with wide eyes, blood pouring out of his now crooked nose. “Now!” she barked, taking a menacing step forward. He jumped and grabbed snaggle tooth and pulled him along as they took off down the alley, leaving a trail of blood behind them.

Luz sighed, lowering her blade as she turned to Amity, once she was sure they were gone.

“Are you alright?” she asked, looking the noble over. She’d taken her eyes off her for a few minutes and when she’d looked back up she had been gone. She’d figured Amity had ditched her until she had heard one of the men's pained yells coming from the alley only to find her noble charge at dagger point.

Amity nodded shakily and spit, trying to rid her mouth of the foul taste of the witch’s hand. Luz grabbed the waterskin off her belt and offered it to her. Amity took it and washed her mouth out, but the taste lingered.

Liz bit her lip almost hard enough to draw blood. This was why Amity had an escort outside the manor. She hadn’t been taking this very seriously, till now. She felt guilty, another minute or so, and Amity would have been gone, held for ransom.

“I’m sorry,” she said and Amity looked up at her, Luz’s face was set in a frown. “I should have been watching you better… it’s no wonder you need an escort… I should have been taking this more seriously,” Luz admitted, meeting the noblewoman’s eyes.

“I don’t need an escort,” Amity bit out. “That… that’s never happened before…,” she mumbled.

Luz wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not but she nodded.

“Well, that was more excitement than I figured we’d have on a trip to town…,” Luz hummed, sheathing her sword and turning to make sure the two wouldn’t decide to come back for more, though she doubted it as she eyed the severed hand slaying on the ground in a pool of blood; Amity looked at it too for a moment before bending down and picked up the dagger, prying it from the severed fingers, Luz watched her turn it over in her fingers before slipping it into the pocket of her dress

“This never happened…” Amity isn’t looking at her as Luz’s eyes whipped up to face her, eyes wide.

“What?” Luz blinked.

“This never happened,” she patiently repeated, finally turning to face her. “No one needs to know what happened here.”

“You were just attacked by two guys who wanted to kidnap you for ransom!” Luz threw up her hands. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I have to tell Bump about…” before she can finish the thought Amity cut her off, gold eyes wide

“No!” She jerked toward Luz, who unconsciously took a step back and Amity leaned back, biting her lip, her hands clenched into the skirt of her dress. She can’t stop her if she really wants to go to Bump, but if she does, even with an escort, Amity will most certainly not be allowed to leave the manor for who knew how long. “Please... don’t tell Bump about this…,” her voice is low and tinged with desperation.

Luz frowned.

It would be easier on her in the end to just tell Bump and have this situation taken off her hands, and yet…, Luz can’t bring herself to do that. There's something in the witch's gold eyes, desperate and pleading, silently begging her not to tell the steward about this that she can't bring herself to ignore.

Luz sighed, scratching the back of her head as Amity looked up at her, beseeching.

“Yeah… yeah, okay,” she finally said and Amity sagged in relief.

“Thank you, Luz…” she said and Luz grunted, crossing her arms, prompting Amity to look back up at the taller woman.

“Seems like this wouldn’t be such a problem if you just got some lessons in defending yourself…” Luz frowned, which made Amity scoff as they finally moved out of the alley, looking around cautiously before they started to make their way back toward Blight manor, Luz walking at her side, rather than the few feet behind her, as was appropriate, but Amity was too tired after that debacle to correct the woman and Luz was not willing to take another chance.

“You don’t need to tell me that, I’ve been attempting to get lessons in swordplay for years…”

“No one wants to teach you?” Luz cocked a brow in question, Amity pursed her lips, trying to decide if she really wanted to talk about this with the guard or not.

“My parents think it would be a waste of time and resources, that a highborn lady like myself should never stoop to such barbaric behavior…,” Amity started after a moment.

Luz made a face at that. There was nothing barbaric about it. Sure, she’d seen some people handle a sword as though it were a giant meat cleaver or kitchen knife, chopping and hacking, but when done right it was...”

“...but I think it’s a beautiful art form,” Amity finally finished, and Luz looked at her with surprise. Amity caught her look, and maybe it was Luz’s imagination but she could have sworn there was the faintest hint of pink dusting the noble’s cheeks as she turned her head away. “I just mean… It takes an incredible amount of skill and grace… I’d love to learn...” Amity’s voice holds a certain wistfulness to it that Luz knows well.

She hummed as they walked. The longer she thinks about it the more she can’t help but think of herself and how it felt to want something so badly, only for everyone to tell you that you couldn’t.

She would never forget the look on her mother’s face when she had told her that she wanted to be a knight when she grew up.

It was surprised, at first.

Then she had frowned and gave Luz that stern look she always used when she broke something or got caught getting into something she wasn’t supposed to. A kind of aggravated, disappointed look, before she told Luz that she couldn’t be a knight, only witches were knights and it was much too dangerous for her.

Luz pursed her lips as she could clearly see that face in her mind’s eye. She had a better understanding now of what her mother meant. It was certainly dangerous, but their whole world was dangerous.

What happened to her mother had proven that to her beyond any shadow of a doubt.

She pushed the thought away as she glanced at Amity, frowning to herself as they walked.

“I could teach you…” She said suddenly, the words slipping past her lips before they can even really register with her brain, especially as Amity came to an abrupt halt, turning to look up at her with wide gold eyes.

“What?” she asked.

By the time her brain is catching up to what she’s actually saying her mouth is moving gain.

“I can teach you, swordplay. If you want that is,” she clarified.

Amity is still looking up at her in silent wonder. Luz can see her jaw working silently, as though trying to get words out.

“Why?” she finally managed to spit out, confusion dripped from the word. “Why would you do anything for me? I haven’t exactly been kind to you…,” she trailed off, frowning.

“No, but I wasn’t either, so...” She shrugged. “Water under the bridge, and because I know how it feels to want something so badly, while everyone is always telling you that can’t…," her voice faded as she finally broke their stare, those eyes looking at her are much too intense and she has to look elsewhere.

Amity continued to stare up at her, trying to wrap her mind around the offer being made to her. It seems too good to be true, there has to be a catch.

“What do you want in return?” she finally asked, eyes narrowing, which did make Luz turn back to face her, her brows dipping between her eyes as they locked eyes again.

“I don’t want anything from you,” Is her reply. “If you don’t want to, that's fine,” she said as she started back down the street toward the manor.

Amity jolted, dashing forward to grab Luz’s arm, stopping her.

“No, wait, I do!” she rushed to say before the woman could change her mind.

Luz glanced down at the small hand wrapped around her elbow and Amity quickly jerked her hand back, folding them together in front of her.

“I do want to learn… but you must want something in return…” she looked up at her in question, not the same accusing kind Luz had seen in her eyes earlier that had made a slight twinge of offense go through her, it’s more curious now, though the shadow of distrust lingers. “Name your price,” Amity said testingly, usually, if someone wanted something from her, that was all she needed to say for them to reveal their actual intentions to her. She’s learned a long time ago that her family name came with many strings, one's people had proven time and again they wanted to be able to pluck at their whim, by manipulating her.

“Nope,” Luz popped the ‘p’ of the word loudly. “I don’t need anything from you.” she shook her head, which made Amity frown, unsure what to say.

It really seemed like Luz had no alternative motives for offering to teach her, which was surprising, and also made the youngest Blight all the more adamant to offer something in return. Blight’s did not let debts go unpaid.

They didn’t get themselves into debts to start with either, though that voice in her head sounds suspiciously like her mother’s.

She scoured her mind, she knew very little of Luz and what type of trade she might be interested in for her time, but then she remembered last night, coming upon her in the stables, reading a basic runic book out loud to herself. The human obviously didn’t know how to read runes, something Amity was more than advanced in. Before Lilith had left she and her mentor had spent countless hours delving into every advanced manuscript of runes the archives and her family’s personal library possessed.

“You’re trying to learn runic, that’s what you were doing in the stables last night, right?” she asked and Luz looked down at her.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” she nodded.

“I can teach you, in return for the sword training, that way we both get something we want,” she offered and Luz hummed, rubbing a hand over her chin.

She may never have figured out the fire glyph last night if it hadn’t been for Amity appearing last night.

“Deal.” Luz grinned, sticking out her hand. Amity looked at it only for a moment before taking hold of it and giving it a quick shake. Luz’s hand is large, her own smaller hand is cradled in hers, and it’s rough and calloused, but warm.

Luz can’t help but notice how much smaller and softer Amity’s hand is than her own, but it’s warm.

Once she draws back, Luz is looking her up and down and Amity can’t help but flush at the obvious eyeing she is getting before she can even get angry and shout at the other woman Luz piped up.

“I hope you have something besides a dress to fight in…” she pointed at the ankle-length black and magenta dress she is wearing.

“I… don’t…,” she finally said after thinking for a moment and Luz made a disapproving sound.

“Then our first order of business is to get you some pants... Let’s go!” she turned in the opposite direction of the manor, back toward the market, and started off before Amity could so much as blink.

“Wh- Luz, wait!” she held up her skirts as she hurried after the would-be knight, who slowed enough for Amity to walk at her side.